BUTCHER has watched his rival blossom as a boss and reckons it's inevitable he'll leave Parkhead to prove himself in the English Premier League, but believes he won't consider moving on without winning the treble.

Neil Lennon is going for his third title in a row but Butcher says the Celtic boss has unfinished business in Scotland (Image: REUTERS)

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THE domestic treble – the top line on any checklist of champions.

And Terry Butcher doesn’t believe Neil Lennon should move south until he has it on his CV.

The Hibs manager has watched his Celtic rival blossom as a boss over four seasons, and reckons it’s inevitable he’ll yearn to prove himself on the platform the English Premier League provides.

But while many feel Lennon has hit a glass ceiling with Celtic, strolling to the league title and reaching the last 16 of the Champions League, Butcher believes he has unfinished business to attend to before he can truly say he’s done all he can at Parkhead.

He said: “There are different challenges that face you as a manager – for Celtic, to go unbeaten in a season is a target, to do well in the Champions League is another, and to win a domestic treble is a big one.

“Not until you’ve done the majority of those or achieved what you want to achieve would you ever think about possibly moving on.

“But you’re not always in charge of your future in terms of timing and sometimes a situation comes along and you think, ‘Well, I’ll just go for that’, so that may well be the case with Neil.

“There comes a time when you think, ‘yeah, maybe I’ll move on’ but there is unfinished business and there’s still a lot he can do there and still a lot he wants to do.

“You always have a hankering to manage in the top flight of any league, in any country, so I still think he would love to move down south and test himself in the Premier League but it’s about opportunities and timing and availability too.

“He is doing a bloody good job at the moment, though, considering he has had to move out quality players and replace the spine of his team, especially working under the spotlight he does – he has earned it.

“People forget that. I’m under a bigger spotlight here than I was at Caley Thistle – and then it goes up about another 10 notches when it comes to being manager at one of the Old Firm.”

Terry Butcher thinks Lennon will want to test himself in England's top flight (Image: SNS Group)

Butcher knows the dichotomy as well as anyone – is it better to be a big fish in a small pond, or take your chances in shark-infested waters?

He said: “Is it a contradiction to say ‘move down’ to the Premier League in England? Are the clubs he could go to as big as Celtic? Possibly so, in terms of size but then they are in the Premier League so there’s your contrast.

“When I left Rangers as a player it was like you were taking a big cloak of pressure off and putting it to one side and I was like ‘wow, there is life after the Old Firm’.

“So I can see that point of view completely but moving to the Premier League, whatever club you move to it’s still in the Premier League, which is where everybody wants to be.

“Neil’s hope as a manager is that he moves to a good, big club in the Premier League. I like Neil a lot. Him and me get on really well so I hope that does happen for him.”

Butcher’s Hibs side will host Celtic at Easter Road looking to reprise the tear-up they shared there in October.

The physicality of that match – the last point Pat Fenlon won in charge of the Edinburgh side – left Lennon seething. But Butcher insists it’s not a gameplan he feels the need to repeat. He said: “I haven’t gone back and looked at it but I watched it live at the time. It was pretty physical and strong but then you have to be committed against Celtic.

“You have to be prepared to put your body on the line and Hibs’ players certainly did that. So we are looking for the same attitude and commitment again.

“But I’m not going to make it crash, bang, wallop, I’m not like that. My teams do try to play a bit of football and you get a bit of time to play against Celtic as well. We’re looking to meet them head-on in terms of football.

“We know they have international players and a huge squad but at the same time, and going back to the games where we have beaten them, that’s always been through a really good team effort.”

Spookily Butcher’s records against Celtic as a boss with Motherwell and Inverness are identical – played 15, won two, drawn three and lost 10 with both. He added: “On all the occasions we have been successful it’s because Motherwell or Caley Thistle have been right at the top of their game. It’s not a fluke.

“And the fact Celtic haven’t gone through a season unbeaten so far may sometimes be down to the fact that their players can maybe get a bit nonchalant and not hit top form.

“When I was at Rangers we once set a target of going undefeated throughout the season and I think it lasted one game. We unfurled the flag and lost to St Mirren!

“I don’t think it’s bad for Scottish football, though. It’s never been done here but was it bad in the Premier League down south when Arsenal went a whole season undefeated? There you go, there’s your answer.”